BROKEN ARROW
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1996 Michael John Legeros
(Fox)
Directed by John Woo
Written by Graham Yost
Cast John Travolta, Christian Slater, Samantha Mathis
MPAA Rating "R" (presumably for violence and language)
Running Time 108 Minutes
Reviewed at General Cinemas at Pleasant Valley, Raleigh, NC
(9FEB96)
==
The first Big Action Movie of the year opens, appropriately enough, in a boxing ring. In this corner is John Travolta, a test-pilot-gone- bad who's stealing nukes and demanding ransom. His challenger is Christian Slater, his copilot and supposed friend. Their playpen is the Utah Canyonlands, where Travolta has ditched their B-3 Stealth bomber and is planning Bad Things if Uncle Sam doesn't pay. Assisting Mr. Slater is his PUMP UP THE VOLUME costar Samantha Mathis as a feisty Park Ranger. Together, they chase the Comeback Kid via plane, train, boat, moat, and Humvie, as only SPEED scribe Graham Yost could imagine.
Behind the lens is legendary action director John Woo (HARD BOILED, HARD TARGET), who seems a mere shadow of his usual self. Sure, he brings a unique rhythm to an already too-familiar formula, but his action sequences lack the fluid finesse that Woo is world-renowned for. No bone breaking ballet here, just the occasional over-the-top thrill. Such as Mathis and Slater evading a crashing helicopter's tail rotor. Or the film's final twenty minutes, set aboard a hijacked freight train.
All told, BROKEN ARROW is entertaining enough. The script is lively, Travolta is a blast as a badass, and John Woo is effective enough, even at quarter-speed. Unfortunately, there's not much that *anyone* can do with the more, uh, erroneous casting choices. Christian Slater is hardly larger-than-life, but some viewers will probably accept him as an action hero. Samantha Mathis, however, is just plain awful. What's she doing here? The inclusion of, say, Travolta's GET SHORTY costar Delroy Lindo we can understand. Even former NFL player Howie Long is an acceptable addition. But looks-all-of-twenty-years-old Frank Whaley as a Pentagon "suit?" Maybe the casting director was thinking John *Hughes*.
Grade: C+
--
Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC
legeros@nando.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w)
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